1 overall pick, Jackson Holliday, has the tools to rise quickly, although his ETA is still multiple years away. The Orioles placed third in Keith Law’s recent organization rankings, bolstered by a handful of guys already named in this article (Henderson and Rodriguez) who have not officially graduated yet. Committing basically half the team’s innings to below-average options, including specifically bringing in two of them, suggests the team isn’t fully buying in to its own roster strength, which is a bummer. Ultimately, this is a group that lacks top-end talent and it may ultimately hold them back. John Means is also expected back during the summer months as he recovers from Tommy John Surgery. The upside here resides in Grayson Rodriguez, who was dominant across 14 starts in Triple-A last year and ranks as one of the game’s better pitching prospects. ZiPS is bullish on Dean Kremer and new additions Kyle Gibson and Cole Irvin should be fine as below-average innings eaters, but that’s no way to contend. Adding one of the frontline starters available would have done wonders for this organization.
2021 MLB SCHEDULE ORIOLES UPGRADE
To be clear, this isn’t just a case of a meh set of innings-eaters that the team didn’t upgrade - it’s one of the worst rotations in MLB, on paper.
2021 MLB SCHEDULE ORIOLES FREE
It appears to be the starting rotation, and it’s a bummer the front office didn’t decide to pour some gasoline on the rebuild fire by tapping into the free agent market this winter. This isn’t a team that will wow you around the diamond, but Rutschman puts them in the top tier of catching leaguewide and gives them exactly the premier player they can start to build a roster around. That said, Rutschman is the real prize in this lineup and on this roster. The bottom third of the lineup is a bit lacking, however. Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle both project as above-average hitters in the middle of the order with plenty of opportunities to drive runners in. Cedric Mullins wasn't able to repeat his breakout 2021 season with the bat, but he's still a fine option in center field. Rustchman is coming off a 133 wRC+ and 5.3 fWAR rookie campaign and ZiPS expects him to be even better as a sophomore. One of the youngest lineups in the league should be a lot of fun to watch, headlined by former top prospects Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson. It’s not strange that in a single season, they managed to beat their production record-wise, but it’s harder to do that two years in a row. One thing to keep in mind is that the Orioles got fairly fortunate last year, with WAR-based production sufficient to warrant about 78-79 wins, but not 83. Who’s to say the magic can’t continue if they catch a few breaks along the way? This is an easy group to root for in the daunting AL East. But this is largely the same roster that beat the projection models by 30 wins a year ago and has a really good farm system to help out further. ZiPS is probably the most optimistic system, giving them a central estimate of 80 wins. The projections aren’t quite as bullish on Baltimore repeating what they did in 2022, with FanGraphs predicting a 77-85 mark while PECOTA sits at 74 wins. Acquired pitchers Cole Irvin and Kyle Virbitsky from the Athletics in exchange for shortstop Darell Hernaiz.Acquired pitcher Darwinzon Hernandez from the Red Sox for cash considerations.Acquired first baseman Ryan O’Hearn from the Royals for cash considerations.Sent third baseman Tyler Nevin to the Tigers for cash considerations.Acquired catcher James McCann and cash considerations from the Mets in exchange for a player to be named later (first baseman/outfielder Luis De La Cruz).Signed pitcher Mychal Givens to a one-year, $5 million contract with a mutual option for the 2024 season.Signed second baseman/outfielder Adam Frazier to a one-year, $8 million contract.Selected pitcher Andrew Politi from the Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft.Signed pitcher Kyle Gibson to a one-year, $10 million contract.Claimed first baseman Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Pirates as part of the endless Diaz saga, later also claimed him off waivers from the Braves.
Lost pitcher Jake Reed on waivers to the Red Sox.Claimed outfielder Jake Cave off waivers from the Twins, later lost him on waivers to the Phillies.
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